Dear Country Valley Farm CSA Members,
This message contains some important information – please give it a read to the end and reach out with any questions or follow ups accordingly.
Many of the 20 week CSA member shares ended as of this past weekend. Emails were sent yesterday, directly to folks whose shares ended. Some have confirmed they are ending or extending, some we are awaiting responses from.
We sent emails to all members on September 8th, detailing when your share ends. If you are unsure of when you share ends, please let Adam know ASAP.
We have decided to do home delivery for the rest of this season. It is getting cold out and it seems like we can complete home deliveries in less time than the pick-up window hours. We will also be adjusting times a bit to work around U of M home football schedule. For this weekend, home deliveries will occur between 12 noon and 3pm (game time is noon, so we think this is wise). If this does not work for you, please let Adam know ASAP and we will work to adjust to fit your needs.
Returning of empty bins: We are missing about 10 bins that seem to be out there somewhere. Please take a look around and see if you may have extra bins that can be returned. We know how it goes and there is no blame at all, we just want the bins back if possible. Please have empty bins by your front door in advance of the home delivery times, so we can pick them up when making deliveries.
CSA for next year 2022:
We are inviting existing CSA members to join for next year with an 18% discount for members paid by December 31, 2021. Having members sign up early is especially helpful for us in many ways. It allows us to crop plan with as much advance time as possible; we can get a 10% discount on organic seed purchases by joining a CSA from High Mowing Seeds (our favorite all certified organic seed company); we can order our organic transplants in time for Cinzori Farm to order seed with their winter order (which saves shipping costs and extra time spent with late orders); we can order our compost and organic inputs and spread them on our land during the winter months; we can secure our irrigation needs over the winter (this year we were unable to get our supplies in time due to the irrigation supply company being swamped with business from larger farms, and ended up paying a higher price from local big box stores).
What will be the same: You will receive more produce than the market value of the items in the box. We feel strongly that there should be a good value for members as folks pay in advance and are part of our farm community. We look at market pricing for certified organic produce at area farmers’ markets, then we value our produce in the middle of pricing seen, then we pack the boxes to be 10-30% more value than the cost of the share. For example, this season small $20 boxes contained between $22 and $28 in produce each week. The produce will continue to be all certified organic and of the highest quality available. We will offer options to skip weeks (with at least 7 days confirmed advance notice) and add weeks to the end or add double boxes based on your preference and duration of shares purchased.
What will change: We are increasing our variety of crops as we noted some gaps this year that we hope to avoid next year. Specifically, we will be growing spring lettuces and more fall lettuces. We will be growing early tomatoes. We will be growing more varieties of potatoes. We will try to be better carrot farmers, as we planted carrots this year and they did not perform well enough to include in the shares. Home delivery will be an option. Pickup day may change to Sunday afternoon/evening – we are awaiting confirmation of this. Additional pickup locations and days will be added, TBD – we are looking at adding a Friday or Saturday market if we move the Genesis pickup to a Sunday.
CSA Package Options for 2022:
· Small shares: $22/week
· Medium shares: $33/week
· Large shares: $44/week
· Friends, Family, and Neighbor shares: $99/week – home delivery at no charge
· Home delivery: $5/week. Calculated based on the duration you choose. This option is not changeable week to week and is selected for the entire season. All current members are considered to be within our delivery range.
· Share duration options: 20-week and 30-week
· Discount is 18% off the total order for members paid by December 31, 2021.
· Additional discount of 3% for orders paid by check or cash (we pay a 3% processing fee for credit cards…)
· We have not yet updated our website e-commerce section to accept credit card payments but we will if you prefer to pay that way and not get the 3% additional discount. We understand everyone’s situation is different and we are here to serve.
Small shares for 30 weeks, paid by 12/31/2021:$22 x 30 weeks = $660Minus the 18% discount ($118.80) = $541.20Minus the 3% discount ($16.24) for non-credit card payment (check or cash) = $524.96
Medium shares for 30 weeks, paid by 12/31/2021$33 x 30 weeks = $990Minus the 18% discount ($178.20) = $811.80Minus the 3% discount ($24.35) = $787.45
Large shares for 30 weeks, paid by 12/31/2021$44 x 30 weeks = $1,320Minus the 18% discount (237.60) = $1,082.40Minus the 3% discount ($32.47) = $1,049.93
Small shares for 20 weeks, paid by 12/31/2021:$22 x 20 weeks = $440Minus the 18% discount ($79.20) = $360.80Minus the 3% discount ($10.82) = $349.98
Medium shares for 20 weeks, paid by 12/31/2021$33 x 20 weeks = $660Minus the 18% discount ($118.80) = $541.20Minus the 3% discount ($16.24) = $524.96
Large shares for 20 weeks, paid by 12/31/2021$44 x 20 weeks = $880Minus the 18% discount (158.40) = $721.60Minus the 3% discount ($21.65) = $699.95
Home delivery is $5/week for all share sizes. Except for the Friends, Family, and Neighbors share – home delivery is no charge. Home delivery will also receive an 18% discount if paid by 12/31/2021 – but can certainly be added closer to the start of the season if you wish.
The 2022 CSA season will begin in late April or early May for both 20 and 30-week shares. Michigan weather is such that seasons can be a few weeks earlier or later from year to year. Our start date will be based on weather and crop readiness. Asparagus is a big part of the early season and something that we are proud to offer as to our CSA members.
We have requested to move our Genesis pick up location to a Sunday early evening time. We are awaiting approval. If that is approved we will likely add Eastern Market in Detroit as a Saturday option, and may add Canton Farmers Market as a Sunday option. Home delivery will be determined based on approval for Sundays at Genesis, and the markets and member proximity to those markets/pick up locations. As soon as we get confirmation of Genesis pick up location day and time, we will send another update.
Please reach out to Adam with any questions or if you want to sign up and we can do the math based on your desired share 
.
Thank you for being a Country Valley Farm CSA member. It is a joy to have each of you as part of our community.
Warm regards,
Adam and Family